Sunday, October 22, 2006

On October 17, 2006, President Bush, with the overwhelming approval of the House and Senate, signed into law The Military Commissions Act due largely to the recent Supreme Court ruling which stated that the military was not permitted to conduct tribunals in violation of due process. Prisoners were also guaranteed the right of habeas corpus as a means of redress and to test the legality of the detention and trial.

Well, this new law now makes all of the things which the Supreme Court ruled as illegal and in violation of due process legal. It goes further: no habeas corpus options, prisoners may not invoke the Geneva Convention protections, the law does not exclude U.S. citizens as the objects of the moniker "enemy combatant," and the use of torture may even fall into the realm of "acceptable" in this new law. (Ted Kennedy apparently attempted to amend the legislation to exclude certain types of torture. This attempt failed.) (A fair reading of the new law:http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=11095)

If there was ever a question as to the direction of this administration regarding civil rights and liberties, I think this legislation ends the debate. Ron Paul voted against the legislation. Interestingly, our local Congressman, Sanford Bishop, voted for it. Strange as he is a Democrat and purportedly one of the defenders of civil rights.

As I stated in other threads re The Patriot Act and The Homeland Security Act we are headed in a direction which is dangerous and lethal to any kind of dissent or protest, folks. The mindset of the majority our elected officials is bent on domination and limitation in order to maintain "control." So much for conservative, small government Republicans.

A link to provide some background:http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2006/10/bush-signs-military-commissions-act.php.)

And finally, a good warning to our current leaders re the suspension of habeas corpus with some history to be remembered:http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/forumy/2006/10/suspending-and-using-habeas-corpus.php

If the import of the rammifications of the passage of this law escapes us, we do not deserve to live in a free nation as we do not know what freedom really is...

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